So Good that I'm so Bad
by youdonegoofed
Summary: UPDATED. AUGUST 19TH :    Luckily Clare has a great.. friend..like Eli. She's going to need one because her life is going to get a little rocky.
1. Chapter 1

"..trace the lines on your paisley jacket"

I laughed quietly to myself. I couldn't believe I knew the words to this song. Clearly I'd been spending too much time with Eli. I reached to turn down the stereo in the hearse.

"Don't lie Clare, you know you secretly love Dead Hand." Eli smirked at me.

"Hmm, no. Not my style of music"

"No way!" he said, dripping with sarcasm. "So what's your favourite song than?"

"Clair de Lune" I said shyly. "It's how I got my name."

"So deep" Eli teased, wiping away fake tears.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I remember my parents had it on repeat for me as a child. Back when everything was actually okay…" I trailed off, staring ahead at the stop sign.

"Hey" he lightly touched my hand. "Things are gonna get better."

I gave him a half-smile. And I actually believed him.

Eli took a left turn onto my street and parked down the road from my house. My parents had met Eli a couple of times, but I wasn't sure they'd be cool with him driving a hearse.

They weren't going to be home for a while, so I invited him in, for some company. We headed upstairs to my bedroom. I dropped my bag on my chair, and lied on the floor.

Eli stood over me, giving me a funny look.

"Uhh, you know you have a bed right? I think their purpose _might_ be for people to lie on. Well, that and other things." He winked at me.

I couldn't help but blush, which I'm sure Eli noticed, because for the 200th time, he smirked at me. I got the feeling he was easily amused by my innocence.

I sighed.

"Get up, Clare Bear." He held out his hands to help me up.

I pretended to gag.

"Worst nickname ever.." Although, when he called me that, I didn't mind as much.

"I'm just bugging you" he said, pulling me up.

"Thaaaanks" I replied. We were still holding hands.

"No problem. Bugging you entertains me."

"You know, most people call that _flirting_.." I challenged.

"Call it what you want.." He stepped closer, letting go of my hands, and slowly moving his to my waist. "But I'm not like most people.." He smirked at me.

We were inches apart and if he were any closer, I'm sure he'd be able to feel my heart beating a mile a minute.

I closed my eyes and leaned in to fill the empty space between us.

"…NOT MY FAULT! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S NEVER HOME."

I jumped back.

"That's not true!"

My parents had come home, and were already fighting.

I held my eyes shut. Was this ever going to stop?


	2. I don't believe it

I broke away from Eli and walked out of my room. I stopped at the top of my stairs, and looked down to where my parents were standing. Eli stood beside me and I held my finger to my lips. I didn't want my parents to hear us and see that he had been in my room. I didn't feel like getting yelled at too.

"For all I know, you're having an affair or something!" My mom accused.

I rolled my eyes, and sighed quietly. She knew he would never do that. He was not that kind of person.

"Shut up. You bitch." He slapped her across the face. Hard. I heard the sound of his hand meeting her face, and her cry from the pain.

I covered my mouth with my hand and my eyes instantly welled with tears. I ran back into my room and stood with my mouth hanging open. Eli looked bewildered.

I felt a mixture of emotions. I was devastated my father would do something like that. I had never even heard him swear before. He wasn't acting like the devout Christian he claimed to be. I wanted to run downstairs and hit him as hard as he hit my mother. I also felt embarrassed. My family's all time low, and Eli was there to witness it.

He locked my door, sat beside me on my bed and put his arm around me.

"Clare .. I'm so sorry .. Need a shoulder to cry on?"

I was still in such shock, I couldn't form any actual tears to fall down my face.

"Eli, I'm so sorry you had to see that. I can't -"

"No need to apologize" He interrupted.

We heard the front door slam shut. I went to my window, and saw my father drive away in his car.

I shook my head, in disbelief.

There was a knock on my door, which made me jump. I was thankful Eli had thought to lock it, because I had forgotten my parents didn't know he was here.

"Clare, honey, I'm going to jump in the shower, and then I think we may have to have a talk, okay?" My mother's voice sounded shaky.

I responded, and we waited until we heard the water running to talk again.

"I think I'd better use this opportunity to leave, so you don't get into any trouble, okay?"

I nodded.

We walked downstairs, and Eli gave me a hug before leaving.

"Be strong. Things can still get better." He whispered in my ear.

I wanted to believe him, but this time, I couldn't.


	3. Chapter 3

I went back into my room and lied down, waiting for my mom to be done in the shower so we could talk. I must have fallen asleep though, because the next time I looked at the clock, it was11:30 am. Thank gosh it was a Saturday, or else I'd have been late and a half for school. I went to the washroom to wash my face and freshen up.

When I got downstairs, my mother was sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by papers. I noticed her left eye was slightly bruised, but she had covered it well with make-up.

"Good morning, Clare. Have some breakfast." She said, pushing a box of cereal my way.

"Mom, what's going on?" I put the box of cereal back in the cupboard. As if I could eat at a time like this.

She hesitated for a bit, and then told me to sit down.

"Well, as you may have noticed, your father and I have been fighting a lot lately. Yesterday, our relation ship reached its boiling point, and I'm afraid we just can't work this out. We're filing for a divorce, honey."

I stared at her. They couldn't be getting a divorce. Only screwed up family's parents got a divorce. Our family was supposed to be as close to perfect as one's could get.

"A div…divorce? Really?" Tears silently rolled down my cheeks. I glanced at her eye. Maybe a divorce was truly the best option though.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'm going to be leaving tonight for a couple of days, to stay with Grandma, so you'll be staying here with your father."

**With my father.** She had to be kidding. Or _stupid_. She was going to allow me to stay alone with the man who had hit her the day before?

"What? But he's dangerous! You can't be serious right now?" I yelled.

"Clare, he's not dangerous. He's your father, no matter what. He just .. got caught up in an angry moment.."

I couldn't believe she was defending him. I had never been so angry with her.

I shot my mother a dirty look, and went back to my room. I refused to leave, or open the door. My mother eventually gave up on trying to talk to me again, and left later that afternoon.

I stayed by my window for the rest of the evening, watching for when my dad arrived. The light outside crept into darkness, and before I knew it, it was 10:00 pm.

He wasn't coming.

In reality, I hadn't wanted him to, but I couldn't help but feel abandoned.

Sleeping in a big empty house by myself was a really creepy thought.

I looked over at my cell phone. I could call Eli, but did I really want him to see me as a mess? I debated for 5 minutes, and decided to call him.

I was about to hang up when he answered.

"Umm hi Eli, it's Clare.. I know this is crazy but, do you want to stay over tonight? I'm home alone, not by choice, and I'm kind of afraid."

Eli was at my house 20 minutes later. We sat on my couch, and I began explaining the whole story to him. By the end of it, I had started crying again.

"Sorry" I apologized, wiping away my tears.

"It's okay to cry you know." He smiled at me.

I yawned. We didn't notice the time was now close to midnight.

"Do you want me to bring you to your room?"

"You know.. I'm actually pretty comfortable right here" I smiled back at him.

He leaned back against the armrest and I snuggled into his chest. We lied calmly in silence like that for a while, and he ran his fingers through my hair until we dozed off.

"Why the hell is there a hearse in my driveway..?"

A voice startled me awake. I sat up, and saw my father standing in the doorway.

"CLARE ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WHAT IN GOD'S NAME, are you doing sleeping on a couch with a boy?"


End file.
